This Vegan Lentil Lasagne is the perfect plant based twist on a classic Italian dish. Made with layers of tomato sauce, béchamel sauce and pasta sheets, it's a filling and nutritious meal. Get the recipe below.
This recipe came about because I've never been a fan of meat substitutes. Lasagne is one of my favourite meals but I struggled to enjoy vegetarian or vegan lasagne made with fake mince. Although food scientists get better at creating realistic fake meats every day, sometimes I think the best option is the more natural one.
With some clever cooking you can do away with meat substitutes and dairy in classic recipes. In this recipe for Vegan Lentil Lasagne, it is the lentils that bring the tomato sauce together. They provide a similar texture to the mince and work well with the other flavours in the dish.
Serving 6 - 8 people, it is a fantastic dish for sharing. It's also not often you come across a simple lasagne recipe that will keep both your vegan, vegetarian and meat eating guests happy without the stress of cooking two meals. So if you ever find yourself entertaining vegans, vegetarians and meat eaters at the same time I'd definitely suggest giving this recipe a go. It won't disappoint.
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Ingredients
The ingredients list for this Vegan Lentil Lasagne is quite long. But don't let that put you off.
The béchamel sauce (also known as a white sauce) is a simple mix of vegan butter, plain flour, and soy milk. I add some extra seasoning and nutritional yeast for a better flavour.
The carrot, onion and celery mix used at the start is the start of any good tomato sauce. It adds a tonne of flavour which is then enhanced by the garlic and basil added further down the line. Peppers, courgette and mushrooms all add flavour and texture, as do the lentils which act as our mince substitute. A good quality passata and tomato puree are essential for a rich tomato flavour.
Dried lasagne sheets are a great "accidentally vegan" pasta which you can't do without in a lasagne recipe!
Last but not least we have our vegan cheese. There are lots of brands on the market but for a recipe like this I like to use Cathedral City or Violife vegan cheeses as they have a strong, cheddar flavour.
Here's the full shopping list:
- Vegan butter
- Plain flour
- Soy milk
- Nutmeg
- Nutritional yeast
- Salt and pepper
- Onion
- Carrot
- Celery
- Garlic
- Red pepper
- Courgette
- Mushrooms
- Green lentils
- Tomato puree
- Passata
- Basil leaves
- Dried lasagne sheets
- Vegan cheese
See the recipe card for quantities.
Step-by-step instructions
There are almost as many steps to this recipe as there are ingredients! But, I promise it's worth it. Here's the recipe step by step.
- Step 1: To make the béchamel sauce, begin by melting the vegan butter in a saucepan.
- Step 2: Add the flour to the melted butter and mix until it forms a smooth paste.
- Step 3: Slow whisk in the soy milk until you have a smooth sauce.
- Step 4: Add the nutmeg, nutritional yeast, salt and pepper and whisk to combine. Heat until it begins to bubble and thickens.
- Step 5: While the bechamel sauce cooks, fry the onions, carrots and celery in a large frying pan until softened.
- Step 6: Next add the garlic, red pepper and courgette and fry until they too are softened.
- Step 7: Add the mushrooms and lentils to the pan along with the tomato puree, passata and basil and simmer for the flavours to combine.
- Step 8: Once both sauces are cooked, layer ½ of the tomato sauce in the bottom of your oven dish.
- Step 9: Next layer over ⅓ of the béchamel sauce.
- Step 10: Layer the lasagne sheets next and then repeat with the remaining tomato sauce, another ⅓ of the béchamel sauce and more lasagne sheets.
- Step 11: Cover the final layer of lasagne sheets with the remaining ⅓ of béchamel sauce and sprinkle over the grated cheese.
- Step 12: Bake for 45 minutes or until the tomato sauce is bubbling and the cheese is melted.
Hint: to stop the top getting too crispy, cover with tin foil for the first 30 minutes. Cook uncovered for the remaining cooking time.
Substitutions
Sometimes we don't always have the exact ingredients to hand, and that's OK! Here are some potential substitutes:
- Soy milk - you can swap soy milk for another plant milk if you wish. Make sure whichever you choose is unsweetened!
- Lentils - red lentils and puy lentils also work really well in this dish if you don't have green lentils to hand.
- Meat substitutes - although I don't recommend them, you could use a mince substitute for this recipe.
- Herbs - I like fresh basil in my tomato sauce but you could use any blend of Italian herbs. Parsley and oregano would work particularly well.
- Vegetables - I've listed my favourite vegetables to include in the dish but you can mix these up with whatever you have in the fridge! Swap the onion for leek, courgette for aubergine, add cherry tomatoes, the choice is yours.
Variations
There are two changes I like to make to this recipe every now and then to keep things exciting!
- Spicy - add chilli pepper flakes to the tomato sauce to add a kick!
- Extra cheesy - add grated vegan cheese to the béchamel sauce to make the dish extra cheesy
For a real twist on the classic lasagne recipe, try my Mushroom, Squash and Butter Bean Lasagne or my Vegan Spinach and Ricotta Lasagne Rolls.
Equipment
You will need a knife and cutting board to prep your veggies.
For the béchamel sauce you will need a saucepan and whisk.
For the tomato sauce you will need a spatula and a large frying pan.
Lastly you will need a large, deep oven dish to cook the lasagne in.
Storage
Lasagne is the perfect dish to make in advance.
You have multiple options if you want to store the lasagne:
- Assemble and then refrigerate for 2 - 3 days before cooking
- Assemble then freeze for up to 3 months before cooking
- Cook, allow to cool completely and then refrigerate for 2 - 3 days before reheating
- Cook, allow to cool completely and then freeze for up to 3 months before cooking
There are pros and cons to cooking it before storing. I find vegan cheese doesn't melt well the second time it's cooked so assembling before cooking is best. That being said, if you want to make the lasagne with the intention of storing it in individual portions (which I like to do when I'm batch cooking) then you must cook it first.
When you cook it from frozen, you will need to at least double the cooking time and only serve once piping hot the whole way through!
Top Tip
Let your lasagne sit before slicing and serving. This gives it time to firm up a little and will be less messy when you serve it.
FAQ
You may have added the soy milk too quickly or not whisked the sauce regularly enough. To save it, push it through a sieve to get rid of the lumps.
Just add more soy milk!
Continue to cook the sauce to see if it thickens, if not, make a slurry with more flour and milk and add this to the sauce.
Violife and Cathedral City are both sold in major supermarkets in the UK. Other brands are also sometimes available but these are the two most common.
If you don't like crispy bits then cover it with tinfoil for the whole cooking time.
Serving suggestions
Why not serve your Vegan Lentil Lasagne with one or two of these delicious side dishes to make it a bigger meal:
The recipe
Vegan Lentil Lasagne
Equipment
- 1 oven dish
Ingredients
For the béchamel sauce
- 50 g vegan butter
- 25 g plain flour
- 500 ml soy milk
- 1 pinch nutmeg
- 4 tablespoon nutritional yeast
- salt and pepper to taste
For the tomato sauce
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 onion finely diced
- 1 carrot finely diced
- 3 sticks celery finely diced
- 1 red pepper finely diced
- 1 courgette finely diced
- 2 cloves garlic sliced
- 100 g mushrooms sliced
- 265 g green lentils from a 400g tin
- 1 bunch basil leaves only, roughly chopped
- 700 g passata
- 2 tablespoon tomato puree
- salt and pepper to taste
To assemble
- 6 lasagne sheets
- 75 g vegan cheese grated
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 200 C / 400 F / gas mark 6.
To make the béchamel sauce
- Begin by melting the vegan butter in a sauce pan.
- Add the plain flour and whisk until you have a smooth paste.
- Slowly pour in the soy milk, whisking continuously until you have a smooth sauce.
- Add the nutmeg, nutritional yeast and salt and pepper and heat until just bubbling.
- Whisk continuously until you have a thick sauce. Remove from the heat until ready to use.
To make the tomato sauce
- While cooking the bechamel sauce, heat the oil in a large frying pan and add the onion, carrot and celery. Cook for 5 minutes or until just softened.
- Next add the red pepper, courgette and garlic and cook for a further 5 minutes.
- Add the mushrooms and green lentils, followed by the passata, tomato puree and basil. Simmer for 5 minutes before assembling the lasagne.
To assemble
- Layer ½ of the tomato sauce into the bottom of the oven dish.
- Spoon over ⅓ of the béchamel sauce over the tomato sauce.
- Next layer 3 of the lasagne sheets.
- Repeat with the remaining tomato sauce, another ⅓ of the béchamel sauce and the remaining lasagne sheets.
- Cover the last layer of lasagne sheets with the last of the béchamel sauce then sprinkle over the grated vegan cheese.
- Bake in the centre of the oven for 45 minutes or until piping hot and the cheese has melted.
efwalt says
Reblogged this on Supper in the Suburbs.